The Directories read as follows: 1897 - Damien, teamster - home 205 State Street. 1898 - Damien, teamster - work 258 State Street - at Purchase corner of Franklin.
Damien, Odille and the family lived at 258 State Street the whole time they were in New Bedford. The house is still there where Narcisse, George, Napoleon and Henri were born.
Damien drove teams of horses for deliveries (teamster). The barn for the many teams of horses was just up the corner from the home. It is now an historical landmark in New Bedford.
It is unknown how they arrived in New Bedford. However, New Bedford was a major shipping port in the late 1890's. They may have arrived by ship or by train. Border crossings were common and were not recorded until later into the 1900's. Update: On the Census of 1900 it states that the family arrived in the United States in 1893.
It is unknown when Damien, Odille and the family arrived in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I found them in the Lawrence City Directories for the first time in 1905. They are listed as Damien, laborer, Edmond working at Atlantic House, Jennie working at Atlantic House, Odelia, Clairvoyant - all living at 571 Common Street.
1906 - Damien, driver, Jennie and Odelia living at 17 Concord House.
1907 - Damien - driver, Odelia, Clairvoyant - Boarding House living at 110 Broadway where they would
1908 - Damien & Odille, Boarding House, 110 Broadway.
1909 - Damien, Boarding House. "Mrs. Odelia died 5/18/1909"
1910 - Albert, teamster. Damien, lodging house. 220 Valley Street.
1911 - Albert, teamster; Damien & Edmond all living at 220 Valley Street.
1912 - Albert, laborer 4 Broadway Court. Damien, lodging house, 100 Broadway. Edmond, 100 Broadway. Fred, Machinist, 100 Broadway. Jennie no longer appears. Got married? She married a Miller and lived in Gardner, Massachusetts where she had four children who died.
1913 - Albert, laborer, 3 Broadway Court. Mary LeBlanc boards, 3 Broadway Court. Thomas, laborer, 3 Broadway Court. No Damien listed. Edmond, operative, 74 Hampshire Street.
Fred, 145 Valley Street.
Except for Fred, none of the above people are found in the Lawrence City Directory again. Albert moved to No. Attleboro where he married and had two children. They later moved to Hartford, Ct where his first wife died.
1916 - Matilda LeBlanc, housekeeper, 165 Lowell Street. Was anybody else living in Lawrence besides Fred now married to Flora Brown [German descent] and Matilda? This is still unknown. Matilda/Domithilde, daughter of Damien and Odille marries Joe Baggett who later becomes Fire Chief of Lawrence.
1914 - Albert, laborer, 1 Broadway Court. Thomas(from the first marriage) laborer, 1 Broadway Court.
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Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home Blog
4 comments:
I've used the New Bedford city directories also. They were very helpful with our St.John / St.Jean line.
Regards,
Theresa (Tangled Trees)
Thank you for your post Theresa.
City Directories are indeed a valuable research that people often overlook. I loved reading/knowing about where everyone lived and what they did for work. In some instances, a real eye opener.
Lucie
I love City Directories too. Such a simple and easy to use resource that offers a lot of information not found anywhere else.
I agree Jennie. Of course, I loved it when I could hold the books in my hands and page through them one page at a time. I find it a bit more tedious going through a micro fiche to find information. That's the only way to view them today in Lawrence.
Lucie
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